On August 16, 2013, the Phillies fired manager Charlie Manuel replacing him with third base coach Ryne Sandberg on an interim basis.[2] At the time, the Phillies were 53–67, and Manuel had exactly 1,000 wins with the Phillies, a milestone he achieved on August 12.[3] The league and fan base mostly expressed sadness and gratitude to Manuel for his tenure.[4] Several Phillies veterans, including Chase Utley and Cole Hamels, expressed regret and guilt feeling their lack of production led to Manuel's firing; they viewed Manuel as a fatherly figure.[5] Sandberg commented the next day, "It was a roller coaster of a day emotionally. It affected me and I think it affects the players."[6] Manuel received significant accolades within the media for his class in handling the situation,[2] while the Phillies organization, namely general manager Rubén Amaro, Jr., were criticized within the media for firing Manuel at that point in the season,[7][8] as well as for not having better players.[9][10][11]